A Change is Coming
by Obsessionsaremylife
Summary: Both Booth and Bones have had offers to leave each other's life's for a year but will they chose to? "Just because I'm not vocal about my feelings doesn't mean they're not there Booth" Booth/Bones


**A Change is Coming**

Booth never thought he would live to see Temperance Brennan speechless, and yet he was just proven wrong – this was not a new situation when dealing with Bones, being proven wrong about something. It happened to him on a daily bases.

"Bones can you say anything?" Booth prompted as he was pacing in her office still holding the letter he was sent this morning.

"How long would you be gone?" Bones replied, Booth could already tell how her brain was trying to rationalise the situation.

"A year, I don't have to go, I just..." Booth trailed off.

"Just what?" Bones asked after a couple of seconds since he didn't continue.

"I just don't want you to think I'm abandoning you, if I went." Booth sighed as he sat down on one of the chairs that were opposite her.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, I'm your partner so if I go, you can either wait for me to return or I assign you with a new temporary partner."

"Why are telling me this? Surely you should be discussing this with Parker and Catherine?"

"Bones, Parker doesn't know yet because I'm not a 100 % certain that I will be taking this offer and I haven't seen or spoken to Catherine in about a week now."

"Why? She gave you the tie, claiming you as..."

"Bones!" Booth interrupted "Just because she gave me a tie doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, I just thought..."

"Well just don't think!"

"That's what I do Booth, everyone thinks you can't stop yourself from thinking! The only way to stop someone from thinking would be to kill someone..."

"Bones" Booth interrupted staring pointedly at her.

"You didn't mean literally did you? Sorry" Bones paused before continuing "Do you want talk about what went wrong with Catherine? I'm your partner you can tell me if you want."

"She just didn't meet up to the standard" Booth gave the answer "I just don't think I can properly move on with you here, I'm mean it's probably not good for my job since every time I see Hacker I want punch him."

Looking at Bones widen eyes it dawned on Booth "Crap, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did."

"Right."

"So... Andrew is going to turn up to one of our dates with a black eye?" Bones asked.

Not sure if this way one of Bone's lame attempts on making a joke Booth answered.

"Not if I go on this programme, you think I should?"

'_No' _Temperance thought but didn't say it out loud "You should do anything that will make you happy Booth."

"Huh" Booth sighed as he tried to not show the irrational disappointment he felt. _Well there goes the fantasy of her pronouncing her undying love for me – wait since when did I become the girl in this relationship? _Booth thought.

"What?" Bones after she couldn't stand him looking at her like that anymore _it will just end in heartbreak. _She reminded herself.

Booth knew he should just shake his head and get out of the office as fast as he could so she didn't see how much this was actually hurting him – it just seemed his body and mouth weren't cooperating with his brain.

"I just thought you would care a bit Bones, your partner would be going away for a year."

"Well, so am I" Bones defended.

"What?"

"They've unearthed some human remains in a site in Asia, they've asked for my expert skills – the dig could last for about a year."

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Erm..."

"You weren't?" Booth tried to keep his anger in check "After all we've been through, you thought I didn't deserve to know you were going to be leaving for a YEAR!" he stood up.

"Booth keep you voice down!" Bone scolded as she stood up from her chair to be on the same level as him. "It not like it matters – you're going to be away as well."

"Well I guess I am now!"

"I don't understand" Bones forehead creased as she was trying to figure out her partner's sudden mood swing.

"What do you understand?" Booth spat out.

"That's what you came here! To tell me you were going to train up new snipers."

"I came here for you to talk me out it! I wasn't really going to go – but now maybe I will, because it's obvious the woman I thought was my best friend doesn't care enough about me to tell me she be leaving for a year!"

"Well why don't you just go? If you think you know me so well!"

"Fine I will!" Booth shouted as he stormed out of the office

"Fine!" Bones yelled back as she slammed her office door ignoring all her fellow squints who looked up from their work to see what was going on.

She turned her back on the retreating figure of Booth and tried to get her breathing back to normal.

* * *

"Who the hell was yelling?" Cam asked as she walked on to the platform "I heard it from my office."

"That would be the Booth and Tempe" Angela answered .

"Not sure what it was about though" Jack continued.

"Whatever it was must have been it must have been something major, I don't think I ever heard them shout at each other like that before" Cam observed.

"Maybe I should go after Booth to make sure he's alright" Jack wondered aloud.

"Yeah, if you want to get shoot" Cam dryly replied "Never go to comfort Booth when he is in mood."

"Dr Brennan does."

"When it comes to Booth, Dr Brennan is just in a whole other field" Cam paused "Though I don't think she holding up that well" She nodded to Brennan's glass office where it looked like Bones was trying to stop herself from cry unsuccessfully.

"I'll go" Angela nodded placing her clip board down on a work table before heading to her best friend's office.

Knocking slightly on the glass door, Angela let herself but closed the door before speaking.

"I'm guessing he didn't take the news of you going off for a year that well then?"

Giving a slight chuckle Temperance turned to her friend "Yes, though he is being hypercritical."

"Why sweetie?"

"He's going away for a year too! Going to train up would be snipers for the army."

Sensing her friend needed a hug, Angela took her in her arms.

"What else happened?" She asked as Temperance pulled away.

"He said I didn't care enough about him to tell him."

"Do you?"

"Of course!"

"In the way I feel about Jack care or...?"

"Where is this going?"

"Booth is a man, honey – they're needy – they _need _to know that the woman they love cares about them." Half expecting her friend to correct her on the assumption that he loved her, Angela was quite shocked that it never came. "Maybe you just need to show him, you do care about him."

"How? We both know I am not good at expressing my feelings out loud."

"I don't know the answer to that Hun, it's up to you."

* * *

It has been a week since he fought with Bones.

Seeley Booth was currently sat at the diner they usually came together after wrapping up a case but since they had made no contact since the fight, he was alone half hoping and half dreading she would walk through the door.

It still surprised him when she did.

"Booth."

"Dr. Brennan" Booth coldly greeted. "What are you doing here?"

Shocked by the use of her name Bones sat on the vacant chair in front of her (hopefully still) partner.

"I was hoping to run into you, I've been coming here for about a week now in hopes of seeing you here, today would be the last time I be able to do this for a year – my plane leaves tonight" She offered as explanation.

"Oh" Curiosity got the better of him "Why have you been trying to find me?"

"Do you remember when Hodgins and I were kidnapped by the grave-digger?"

'_How can I forget?' _Booth thought but replied "Yeah."

"Well, we thought we would never get out again, and I had to do that emergency operation on Hodgins and he wrote Angela a note to tell her he loved her..."

"Is this going anyway?"

"Yes! Don't interrupt!"

"Sorry, won't happen again."

"After Hodgins regained conscious – because he lost it through the pain..."

"Bones, point?"

"I'm getting there! You said you wouldn't interrupt" Temperance scolded.

"Sorry, again."

"As I was saying after he regained conscious he asked me if there was anyone I wanted to leave a note to if I didn't make it and I realised I never gave it to you."

"You wrote me the note?" Booth asked shocked.

"Well, yeah else I wouldn't be telling you this now would I?" Bones replied rolling her eyes then remerging through her coat pocket to get the piece a paper that looked like it had been ripped out of a book.

She held it out to him and he took the other edge of the paper.

"Just don't read it until I'm out of sight OK?"

"Sure."

"Promise?"

"I Promise" He mimicked

"Well, I'll better go, Angela will be taking me to the airport soon, I should meet her at my apartment. Booth I..." She stopped herself from saying something "I see you around OK?"

"Yeah" Booth nodded.

Brennan turned on the spot when she was about to walk out the door and walked back to Booth.

"Temperance?"

"Just because I'm not vocal about my feelings doesn't mean they're not there Booth" She nodded before walking out the door properly.

In shock it took him a couple of minutes from when he saw her retreating back turn a corner to actually open the note which with a smile he noticed was written on one of the torn pages from one of her novels.

It took him about 5 minutes to read the note twice before quickly leaving some money on the table and running out of the dinner after her - the note clutched in his hand.

* * *

**Please Review! (Just no flames) This was my first Bones fan-fiction and I do have an idea for a sequel - tell me if I should or not! :D **

**Also writing Temperance is very hard, I hope I did both characters justice. This is un-beta'd at the moment so any mistakes are mine!**


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